iPhone X review: Apple's Face ID vision for the future of iOS

Comments

Is it affordable? Obviously subjective. $1300 is about 260 days worth of lattes at Starbucks. I am sure many people drink that in the run of a year and think nothing of it. On a 24 month instalment plan, it is $54 month (that is only ~10 lattes). Many carriers still offer discounts to remain with them or on higher end plans (which many need), so you don't pay the full price.

I'll be sitting out this year's iPhone update, lots of new technology but few benefits.

I was going to just say “whatever” to you but then I decided to take a look at your twelve posts on this forum. Wow, talk about recitations from the Troll Catechism, you hit them all. Can’t you think for yourself? Are you a bot?

Half the price of a loaded MBP. Similar to what a new-tech TV cost when I last bought one.

Regardless, I don’t think casual users will opt for it, nor are they expected to. The price is designed to limit demand due to difficult of scaling the tech to the entire iphone consumer base. The tech will get cheaper and trickle down to other models, as happens every single year.

Happily for you there is an entire spread to choose from, from 350 to 1150. Pick your value. But stop complaining that there are higher tiers than what you’re comfortable with.

IMO, DED should avoid the hyperbole and the temptation to disparage the competition at every opportunity:

AppleInsider said:iPhone X isn't aspiring to look like an angular techie robot on a mission to monetize everyone's content with advertising messages or a square panel of "live tile" TV boxes seeking to impose licensing taxes on the enterprise.

Is the visual sharpness of the screen around curves and small text (check the notification dot for an easy example) closer to the standard 8, or 8 Plus?

The 450ppi is higher than the Plus, but with a diamond pentile that means the red and blue channels are 2/3rds the pure numeric value of the green.

I find the Plus pretty good (albeit with some downscaling blur), but the standard 8 is visibly lowish ppi for my eyes. Curious which the X falls closer to.

You make the same unfounded comments in multiple forums. Yes, you need a higher pixel density on Pentile screens to match the sharpness of RGB based screens. No, the standard 8 is not "visibly lowish" in any regard. Unless you have super human vision and/or you hold your phone ridiculously close to your eyes, your claims are BS. There is a reason something is called a Retina display and it's not just a marketing term. This can be proven mathematically as well. 20/20 vision is the ability to discern 1 minute of arc. The rest can be proven mathematically. Let me know if you need help with the math.

IMO, DED should avoid the hyperbole and the temptation to disparage the competition at every opportunity:

AppleInsider said:iPhone X isn't aspiring to look like an angular techie robot on a mission to monetize everyone's content with advertising messages or a square panel of "live tile" TV boxes seeking to impose licensing taxes on the enterprise.

You should read the parts I cut out.

Lol. Can you do a separate blog for more of that fun stuff (RD?), or do I just need to get on twitter more often?

I'm glad that Apple takes the high road most of the time (maybe even too much), but I don't think that Apple fans need to be quite on that standard. I.e. why do Apple fans need to hold back the punches? A large portion of the fandroids out there certainty don't (and it's not just punches, a lot of the time it's outright lies). A lack of balance to the bizarrely-strong anti-Apple sentiment out there is perceived by a lot of people as tacit reinforcement of the illogical Apple hate.

Regarding Touch ID and Face ID, will the third party apps that currently ask for Touch ID (such as my banking app) automatically accept face ID now? I would think that the iOS would make this happen, but has anyone tried it yet?Thanks,John

Regarding Touch ID and Face ID, will the third party apps that currently ask for Touch ID (such as my banking app) automatically accept face ID now? I would think that the iOS would make this happen, but has anyone tried it yet?Thanks,John

Yes any apps that support Touch ID automatically support Face ID, because its handled by iOS.

"When Samsung copied Apple's early iPhone designs,"
Apple doesn't copy in this case - they just pay Samsung directly for their OLED displays, which Apple cannot design or manufacture.

Well, since seemingly it's better than the one in Samsung's own phone, Apple must be doing something in hardware and software in regards to this panel.Other alternative isMaybe they're just asking Samsung to bin the panel (filter) and buying the best ones, better even than what Samsung is willing to put in their own phones at their price point. Considering the price they pay Samsung and the price of the product, that seems likely.

I'll be sitting out this year's iPhone update, lots of new technology but few benefits.

I was going to just say “whatever” to you but then I decided to take a look at your twelve posts on this forum. Wow, talk about recitations from the Troll Catechism, you hit them all. Can’t you think for yourself? Are you a bot?

So all posts on the iPhone X should be nothing but a circle jerk of praise and an echo chamber for Apple fans?

We already got this from the professional reviewers.

Apple has an incredible knack for offering up anything as "the next big thing" and people just eat it up. It's made them very, very rich. It certainly worked on you.

Can anyone else feel that?

A disturbance in the butthurt.

like a billion Android fans screamed in terror … then were suddenly silenced.

You can always judge the potential success of a new Apple product by the sphincter-clenching jealousy it produces in the “hate Apple until the end of time” brigade.

Though to be accurate, it’s not a hatred of Apple: it’s a lack of confidence in their own choice. They know there is a possibility that there is something better out there, and that knowledge just kills them. The irony is that they claim Android gives them “choice”. But they don’t want choice. They want everyone to use the same phone as they use, so they don’t have to feel that they’re missing out.

I have a hypothesis that the people who generally buy an iPhone unlocked upfront will do the same with the iPhone X if they want one. The price will not make much of a difference.

For people who are on the Upgrade Program, the decision is easy to opt for an iPhone X for a few additional bucks a month.

The fence-sitters would be the ones who would hesitate to buy the iPhone X looking at the price. I don't think the number is significant enough to affect the sales negatively.

Overall, Apple is confident it will have a superb quarter. The long lines, in-store availability across many countries in the world and the lengthy delivery waits should assuage fears of a flop. For Apple shareholders. I don't give a crap about negative bloggers or analysts.

Releasing it in 50+ countries at the same time, shortening wait times for online orders also means that Tim Cook is still the master of the supply chain.

Apple has an incredible knack for offering up anything as "the next big thing" and people just eat it up. It's made them very, very rich. It certainly worked on you.

But it is ... the next big thing, I mean.

What Apple has created here is the next big thing: Passive Biometric Authentication.

With PBA, the iPhone X makes the pain points of security dissipate the instant you pick up the phone and start to use it. It's the reason that Android and other handset makers will have to copy it, even if it's expensive - even if they don't understand why they have to copy it. They follow Apple for a reason, even if that reason doesn't rise to the level of consciousness for a long while.

You copy from the smart kid even if you don't know why.

Here's your workflow: you pick up your phone and start to use it. The first thing it demands is that you unlock it. You give it your fingerprint or iris scan (or whatever biometric authentication you use to avoid having to enter that complex passcode everyone says you need). You use an app or a website and it demands your password. You open your password vault (I use 1password), and it either demands your master passcode or offers you biometric authentication, to gain entrance to a room you've erected in case someone picks up or has borrowed your phone (you don't want just any Tom, Dick, or Jerry to see your passwords). So you authenticate that using your iris scanner or thumbprint on a sensor pad to get the password you needed. You use your smart scale and want to see the stats. It wants a passcode/authentication. Your drug store app. Your blood sugar tracking app. I have ssh and vnc apps which can connect to a number of servers at work without needing to remember authentication credentials - you probably have something similar, and have to authenticate that. Your Quicken or investment app.

Everywhere where you've installed heightened security to protect an area of secrecy or critical information is a security pain-point you have to deal with. Until iPhone X.

With iPhone X and passive biometric authentication, I open 1password. The iPhone asks me if I want to use Face ID to authenticate the app (because the iPhone knows I might not want to, or because I might not yet trust Face ID). I let it use Face ID. From that point forward, every time I want to retrieve a password or a serial number or an account number, 1password will just open when I launch it. If I lend my phone to a friend and they attempt to get into 1password, it will demand a passcode. But for me, there will never again be a secondary security pain point when I launch 1password. The same with all my other heightened security walls - they all come crashing down and the pain points disappear.

I'll be sitting out this year's iPhone update, lots of new technology but few benefits.

I was going to just say “whatever” to you but then I decided to take a look at your twelve posts on this forum. Wow, talk about recitations from the Troll Catechism, you hit them all. Can’t you think for yourself? Are you a bot?

So all posts on the iPhone X should be nothing but a circle jerk of praise and an echo chamber for Apple fans?

We already got this from the professional reviewers.

Apple has an incredible knack for offering up anything as "the next big thing" and people just eat it up. It's made them very, very rich. It certainly worked on you.

Can anyone else feel that?

A disturbance in the butthurt.

like a billion Android fans screamed in terror … then were suddenly silenced.

You can always judge the potential success of a new Apple product by the sphincter-clenching jealousy it produces in the “hate Apple until the end of time” brigade.

Though to be accurate, it’s not a hatred of Apple: it’s a lack of confidence in their own choice. They know there is a possibility that there is something better out there, and that knowledge just kills them. The irony is that they claim Android gives them “choice”. But they don’t want choice. They want everyone to use the same phone as they use, so they don’t have to feel that they’re missing out.

It’s bigly sad.

1. Apple executes their design and build better than anyone. Apple may be using (buying) a Samsung screen but they didn't insecurely feel the need to copy the Edge on Samsung phones.

2. Android phones seem to make (at least) one stupid mistake. Essential had a beautiful design but a bad camera experience (a notch I could live with). S8 and Note 8 put their finger print scanners next to the camera (just stupid). And then there are the Pixel 2/2XL's and their screen problems (burning or ghosting within a week)?

3. Why do all the Andrcoidati love their Pixels' because it doesn't have the crap that the OEM's put on their phones. They are looking for a phone that doesn't lag, slowdown, or Freeze over time like an iPhone - or will atleast get them through a year till the next model. See the latest report's about the Note8 freezing. Most Android OEM's don't trust Google.

4. Google doesn't seem to be have a sustained multi-year commitment to hardware. They buy Motorola and then sell it. They start Android Wear and now that has lost steam. How long will Google stay in the hardware business. Who knows?

5 Android has a couple good features (services) - I think Maps, Search, and the Google Assistant are very good. I wish that Apple would come out with a phones that would improve SIRI at the same rate that Apple has innovated in displays (HDR screen, true tone, Super Retina Display) or all the work they put into FaceID with the sensor array in the notch. How about some special dedicated hardware for SIRI - new microphones, on board AI chip for Natural language translation and the ability to work without a Cell connection (I do need to go through those SIRI training videos AI did but that seems so 1990's DragonDictate - Alexa just works for me even when I slur my words at night).